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Student Library Accounts

Whatcom County Library System has a new partnership with the Ferndale School District and the Mount Baker School District known as ConnectED, which gives K – 12 students access to great educational resources and learning materials in our libraries and on the Internet.

Through the partnership, student ID numbers are used as WCLS accounts, allowing students to:

Borrow 2 physical items at a time, such as books, CDs or DVDs, from any public library location

Borrow 5 digital eBooks or eAudiobooks at a time

Stream or download digital music and borrow digital magazines

Incur no overdue fines for items classified for children and teens

Use computers with filtered internet access at any public library location

Access other educational resources, such as online encyclopedias, using the Internet from school or home

This is in addition to, and separate from, a library card that a student may already have.

If you would like your child to access public library resources using his/her school ID, you do not need to do anything. Your child will automatically be enrolled. To opt your student out of public library access using his or her school ID, fill out the opt-out form you received from the school and turn it in to your school’s administrative assistant.

Note: many schools now consider a public library card an essential “school supply” and some teachers may be asking students to use the ConnectED resources for assignments. If you are considering whether to opt your student out, please contact your school librarian or WCLS with your concerns. We welcome your feedback!

We’re glad you and your family are involved with the Whatcom County Library System! Your student can have both a regular library account and a student account. Both will enable access to e-books and digital resources like Britannica Online or Culturegrams. The ConnectED student account does limit students to checking out only two physical items at a time (books, CDs or DVDs), so students may wish to use a standard account if they want to check out more than that.

Yes! Student IDs will work as library accounts throughout the summer and we encourage students to visit WCLS locations to sign up for Summer Reading, and check out DVDs, video games, graphic novels, music, and, of course, books. We also offer many programs and events for kids and teens during the summer, as well as throughout the school year.

It’s easy to sign up for a standard library account and your student can have both a student account and a standard account. The standard account permits up to 150 check-outs at a time! Come in to any location or sign up onlineto get one.

If you have moved and your student is attending another school district, his or her student ID will no longer work as a library account. If you still live in Whatcom County, you are welcome to sign up for a standard library account, which will give students the same access to digital services and will let them check out up to 150 physical items. To get a standard account, come in to any location or sign up online.

The student ID will continue to work through the summer after graduation, but will be deleted from the WCLS system shortly before the next school year. We encourage graduating seniors to get a standard library account, which will enable the same access to digital services and will allow up to 150 checkouts at once. To get a standard account, come in to any location or sign up online.

If a student is having trouble signing in using a student ID as a library account, just call any WCLS location to ask a library staff member to investigate or fill out a Contact Us form to send an email. A staff member will contact you to troubleshoot the account and get it working.

Borrowers can search for any book in the online catalog, but some features are limited based on the patron’s age, in compliance with COPPA (the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act). According to Bibliocommons, the WCLS catalog vendor, patrons under 13 can:

If your student was mistakenly opted-out of the ConnectED partnership and you would like to enable his or her student ID number as a WCLS library account, please contact your school librarian or send the request using the WCLS Contact Us form.